Golf Channel Lost Viewers in 2008
by Ryan Ballengee
on Jan 8, 2009 10:41 AM EST
7 comments
I was taking a look at Sports by Brooks (for the articles, I swear) via Deadspin and saw a piece from the Sports Business Daily about how Versus - owned by Comast - grew its audience by 23.6% in 2008. Meanwhile, only ESPN Original gained viewed among the family of networks from the Worldwide Leader.
The piece also included a graphic about the ratings changes for all major sports networks. Golf Channel didn't fare so well last year.
A 4.4% drop isn't all that shocking considering that Tiger Woods only played half of the season and in just six events. We saw much worse ratings drops on the network broadcasts of golf events, particularly those in which Tiger traditionally plays.
At least it wasn't as bad as NFL Network. Or ESPN Classic... I love those American Gladiators re-runs!
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I agree
if the numbers are totals over the entire season – then Tiger’s absense would explain most of it.
on the up side – MICHELLE WIE is on the LPGA Tour – ESPN may go out of business during LPGA broadcasts !! (ok – maybe not) :-)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on
Jan 8, 2009 10:45 AM EST
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Yeah
I think TGC’s numbers are most due to Tiger – which says a lot about his influence.
by Ryan Ballengee on
Jan 8, 2009 11:28 AM EST
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Versus
I’m not sure how this all works, but on my local Comcast cable lineup, we (until recently), had The Golf Channel, Versus, and an HD channel that showed up in the lineup as VSGLF, where a lot of the Tour events would appear. Now, it seems to have turned into The Golf Channel HD. But, for a while, it had golf stuff mixed with Versus programming.
Is it possible that the numbers are misleading because of a situation like that where the viewership was mixed? Aren’t both channels owned by Comcast? I know that when given the alternative, I always choose the HD programming and I watched that VSGLF channel a lot over the past year.
Maybe that explains the huge surge in Versus and the decline in The Golf Channel? I watched a ton of PGA Tour coverage replays in the evenings after work on that combined channel.
by Double Eagle on
Jan 8, 2009 12:28 PM EST
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Good question
I know they went to 2 HD feeds sometime in December. But, yes, both are Comcast owned.
by Ryan Ballengee on
Jan 8, 2009 12:44 PM EST
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time-warner
I’ve got Time-Warner cable (whether I like it or not). Within the last week they turned on Golf Channel in HD — FINALLY!!! We never had Versus, or any of its content as far as I know.
Truth has a well-known liberal bias.
by dianemarie on
Jan 8, 2009 12:48 PM EST
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Nitro, Blaze and Zap Cannot Be Happy About This
Fewer royalty checks for American Gladiator Alums, I guess. Maybe the dip is due to the cancellation of Cheap Seats. That show was hilarious. ESPN would be better off with more Sklaar action in their lineup.
Doug Albers
www.14STIX.com
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by 14STIX on
Jan 8, 2009 12:38 PM EST
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I loved that show
And then they just occasional stick em in some dumb SportsCenter segment. Sad. Long live the Chopper 4 bit!
by Ryan Ballengee on
Jan 8, 2009 12:44 PM EST
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